1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of wine, and more specifically, to a device for adding woody flavor to a wine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently the determination of when a wine is sufficiently “woody” occurs in a winery, where a wine master or professional wine taster makes a determination as to the optimal exposure of the wine to wood. The wood is typically in the form of a wine barrel, and the wine is aged inside a wooden barrel. Some wines are not exposed to wood and instead are fermented in steel tanks, but these wines will lack the desirable woody flavor.
There are several devices described in the prior art that are designed to be used with large wine barrels or tanks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,419 (Ecklein, 2002) describes a device comprising an array of oak slabs that are inserted into containers ranging from 5 to 5000 gallons. U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,913 (Vowles, 1996) describes a container fitted with a plurality of air-filled wooden tubes that are inserted into the container. U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,268 (Sullivan, 1997) describes a device comprised of a plurality of wooden staves that are inserted into a wine barrel via the barrel bung. None of these devices is suitable for use with standard-size glass bottles, nor are they designed to be easy to use or aesthetically attractive.
There are several devices described in the prior art that can be used with standard-size wine bottles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,487,592 (Rudnick, 1949) describes a wooden stick with shredded ends that is inserted into a bottle, after which the shredded ends expand. U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,423 (Herzfeld, 1976) describes a hollow wooden tube with a stopper at one end that can be installed in a bottle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,675 (Howell et al, 1992) describes treated wood chips that are placed into a permeable container and inserted into a wine container. All of these devices have disadvantages that are overcome by the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to offer a device that allows not only the wine maker but also the consumer to adjust the strength of the woody flavor that is present in a bottled wine. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a flavor-adjusting device for wine that is economical, easy to use, and aesthetically attractive. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a flavoring device that is optimized for use in standard-size (750 and 1500 milliliter) glass wine bottles.